Improvement of an Information and Methodological Framework for Urban Environmental Assessment

Abstract

The development of modern geoinformation and computer technologies has significantly expanded the list of collected data on environmental conditions, in particular, in urban areas. At the same time, the application of digital mapping and three-dimensional modeling techniques in research practice laid the foundation for the development of new tools for the analysis and visualization of spatial data on urban environmental conditions. This paper presents a case study involving mapping and three-dimensional cartographic modeling of environmental conditions in Novosibirsk, a large industrial center of Russia. The photogrammetric sources and technologies used to collect initial data are described. It has been confirmed that the joint use of vertical and oblique photography from unmanned aerial vehicles is the most promising optimal method for collecting geospatial data on the man-made urban environment. The structure of the database obtained by processing images has been presented. A highly detailed digital terrain model of the city has been developed, and its comprehensive morphometric analysis has been carried out to study the pollutant transport over the urban area. Cartographic visualization has been performed to establish the influence of natural flow systems on the formation of environmental risk zones in the urban area, and a fragment of the developed three-dimensional cartographic model is presented. It is concluded that the representation of urban geospace as a single three-dimensional structure composed of natural and man-made objects and features holds promise for improving the detail and reliability of the results of environmental monitoring of urban systems and urban environmental control.